The UCI World Masters have returned to Manchester and racing got underway on Monday morning with Men’s Sprint and Pursuiting taking place in the morning session.
Day 1 – Morning session
The first morning of competition saw the Men’s Sprint (55-59 and 60-64) and Men’s Pursuit (45-49 and 50-54) take place with riders from all over the World competing to progress to the latter rounds of each event.
Men’s Sprint 55-59
First event to take place was the qualifying session for the Men’s Sprint for 55-59 year olds and fastest was Richard Voss of the USA with a time of 11.458, a new unofficial world best. Second was David Willmott of Australia (11.558) and third Steve Cronshaw of Great Britain with a time of 11.584.
In the first round, there were five heats of three riders with the winners of each going through to the next round whilst the losers were relegated to riding the repechages. Winners of the round 1 heats was a truly international mix with Richard Voss of the USA, David Wilmott  of Australia, Briton Steve Cronshaw, Kiwi Scott Russell and Gill Hatton of the USA all victors in their respective heats.
The final racing of the morning in this competition was the repechages where there were three heats. In the first, Maas Van Beek of Holland defeated Mark Zasche of Britain and Brenhard Kluender of Germany. The second heat saw a second British rider get thRough to the next round as Andy Laing beat fellow Brit Martin Bush to the line.
In the final repechage, the USA’s Aron Seiken defeated his countryman Steve Smith and Jim Robertson of Britain while Britain’s David Smith came to grief, crashing out on the final bend before the finish.
Mens Sprint 60-64
The qualifying round of this competition saw 12 riders take to the track for the flying 200 and the winner was Carlos Reybaud of Argentina whose time of 12.088 was quickest. Second fastest was Mark Rodamaker of the USA (12.104) and Eduardo Gualteri of Argentina (12.208).
The next round of this competition saw four heats of three riders take place with competitors from four different countries coming through as winners. In heat 1, Argentinean Carlos Reybaud defeated the two Brits Geoff Brandt and Doug Conroy. In heat 2 Mark Rodamaker of the USA won through beating Rene Grignon of France and Patrick Whelan of the USA.
The heat 3 winner was Marc Dagleterre of France who defeated Eduardo Gualteri of Argentina and Malcolm Clasohm of Australia whilst in heat 4, Peter Gumbley of Australia held off the challenge of Italian Angelo Onofri and Eddie Malarczyk of Great Britain.
The only way of staying in the competition for the losers in each of the first round heats was to win through in the repechages and we’ll have the results from that later in the day.
Men’s 45-49 Individual Pursuit
There were twenty eight riders in the qualifying round of the Pursuit with the fastest being the USA’s Daniel Casper with a time of 3.33.501 for the 3,000 metres. His time was only a fraction quicker than Stephen McNally of Ireland who recorded a time 3.33.683 ensuring that the final is a very close battle for the champion’s jersey.
The ride off for the bronze medal will be between Kenji Yano of Japan, who was a close third in qualifying with a time of 33.835 and he will meet fourth and final qualifier, Michael Bevan of South Africa with a time of 3.35.187.
Fastest of the British riders was Peter Ettles with a time of 3.36.328 for 5th place.
Men’s 50-54 Individual Pursuit 2000 metres
The qualifying session for the 50-54 event saw eighteen riders race over 2,000 metres with the fastest four progressing through to the medal finals. It was Danish rider Claus Christiansen who topped the table with a time of 2.20.460, an average speed of over 51 kph.
He will meet Stephane Lebeau of Canada in the final who recorded a time of 2.20.960 for the distance, a few tenths slower but close enough in time to ensure the final for the rainbow jersey is a hard fought one.
The bronze medal final will see Neville Ackerman of South Africa (2.25.164) meet Australian Nick Chadderton (2.25.194) and with their times also very very close, that race off will be another exciting final in the Pursuit. First British rider in the qualifying session was David Mills with a time of 2.29.794 (6th).
Evening Session
The evening session for day 1 of the World Masters saw nine world titles award to riders during a thrilling four hours of racing with several of those for British riders.
Men’s Sprint 55-59
Round 2
After the morning qualifying session, the number of riders in contention for the medals was being reduced and in Round 2 of the Sprint competition, each of the heats went to form with the favourites easily dispensing of their opponents.
In heat 1, Richard Voss of the USA won easily his heat against Andy Laing of Great Britain while Aussie David Wilmott, the defending champion, also had no trouble defeating Aron Seiken of the USA.
Britain’s Steve Cronshaw was next onto the track, against Van Beek of Holland and Cronshaw like the riders before him cruised to victory, holding his opponent high on the track until the last turn on the final lap before Cronshaw dropped to the bottom of the banking and from then on having no trouble out pacing his Dutch rival.
The final heat of round 2 was won by Gil Hatton of the USA who defeated New Zealand’s Scott Russell.
Semi Finals
These heats were the best of three matches and in it only took Gil Hatton two rides to defeat Richard Voss to progress to the final for the Gold medal. It was the same in the other heat as defending champion David Wilmott managed to hold off the strong challenge of Steve Cronshaw twice to go through to the final for gold against Hatton. For Cronshaw however, his chance of a medal lay in the Bronze medal ride against Voss.
Finals
Gold/Silver Medal Heats
The racing between these two was so close in the final for Gold that in the first heat, the victory margin for Gil Hatton was only a centimetre and tactics were surely going to play a big part in deciding where the Gold medal went in the next match. In that, the defending champion from Australian certainly threw all he had at Hatton in the next heart which he had to win but a big lunge at the line by Hatton was enough to clinch the Gold and show how pleased he was with a celebration so wild he was given a warning by the judges!
Bronze Medal Final
The ride off for the Bronze medal, whilst close and exciting to watch, the challenge from Voss was not the same as in the one between Hatton and Wilmott. Cronshaw was simply to quick, way to quick in fact in the first heat and while Voss got closer in the second heat, the very experienced Cronshaw was just to good for his opponent from the USA.
Minor Final
The ride off for 5th to 8th went to New Zealand rider Russell Scott who had qualified 4th earlier in the day but until the minor final had not been able to make use of that speed. That changed in the four up race for 5th to 8th where Russell blitzed his rivals, winning by the length of the finishing straight with a photo finish behind him between Andy Laing and Aaron Seiken for the next two places. Maas van Beek came behind them for fourth and 8th overall in the competition.
Men’s Sprint 60-64
Round 2
There were three heats for round 2 of the 60-64 sprint where Argentina supplied two of the winners. In heat 1, Carlos Reybaud was too quick for Rene Grignon of France whilst in heat 2, Eduardo Gualtieri of Argentina defeated Mark Rodamaker of the USA.
The third and final heat in this round of the 60-64 Sprint saw Australian Peter Gumbley up against French rider Marc Dangleterre and whilst the Aussie gave Dangleterre the run around on the track, the
French rider was just too quick and with a late rush at the line, Dangleterre won through to the semi-finals while Gumbley would join the other losers in the repechages.
Round 2 Rep
It was in the reps that Gumbley fought his way back into the competition, leading the race from the front and easily holding off the challenge of Rene Grignon and Mark Rodamaker.
Semi Finals
As in round 2, both the semi-finals were won by the riders from Argentina to make it an all Argentinian final for Gold. In the first heat, Peter Gumbley did his best against Carlos Reybaud but the number 1 seed after the qualifying was far too fast and Reybaud went through in two rides.
In the other heat, Eduardo Gualtieri of Argentina had no trouble against Dangleterre of France, winning both matches with ease and going through to meet his teammate in the final for Gold while in the fight for bronze, it was going to be another rematch between Dangleterre and Gumbley.
Finals
Gold/Silver
Match A didn’t get off to the best of starts with Carlos Reybaud slipping down the backing on the opening lap as they slowly circled the track. In the rerun, there was no repeat of any slipping on the track as the pace was a little brisker this time. Both Argentinean riders were closely matched and whilst Gualtieri certainly had a good go at winning the title, his teammate Reybaud was simply to fast and won both heats to clinch the Gold medal with Silver going to Gualtieri.
Bronze medal ride-off
This was expected to be a win for Frenchman Marc Dangleterre and certainly in the first heat, the rider from France was way to quick for the Aussie Gumbley. In match B however, Gumbley hit back and won that in a very tight finish to level the heat at one match all. It was all down to Match C and with Gumbley leading from the bottom of the track, Dangleterre was forced to go the long way round. That journey was probably one too far for him and despite a strong challenge down the home straight, the Aussie held on to win the bronze medal.
Men’s 35-39 Kilometre Time Trial
Fastest in the four lap race of the track was British VC St Raphael rider, Ben Elliott, who took the lead in the penultimate heat and managed to keep that place at the top of the table. The USA’s Sky Christopherson was second and Terence Mackin of Ireland a very happy bronze medal winner in third.
1 Ben ELLIOTT GBRÂ 1.06.152
2 Sky CHRISTOPHERSON USA 1.06.491
3 Terence MACKIN IRE 1.06.956
4 James TAYLOR GBR 1.07.370
5 Neil CAMPBELL GBR 1.08.030
6 Ieuan WILLIAMS GBRÂ 1.08.149
7 Per BJESS USA 1.08.212
8 Boyd ROBERTS RSA 1.08.483
9 Estevm CIAMPONE BRA 1.09.076
10 Wesley PEIRCE USA 1.09.265
11 Andrew GERBER AUS 1.09.672
12 Adam ROBERTS GBR 1.09.908
13 Mario NELL RSAÂ 1.10.088
14 Yann DUJARRIER FRA 1.10.432
15 Axel BOLAND NED 1.10.480
16 Alessendro PICCO ITA 1.10.639
17 Mickael DHINNIN FRA 1.11.006
18 Bryce DYER GBR 1.11.114
19 Thierry FORLER FRA 1.11.301
20 Roald SOGNO RSA 1.13.133
21 Dario AYALA PURÂ 1.13.599
22 Jason STREATHER GBR 1.14.277
23 Callum FINLAYSON, GBR 1.14.625
24 Jean Claude VOEGELI SUI 1.14.629
25 Cyrille SANTERRE FRA 1.16.360
26 Roberto COLON PUR 1.19.611
27 Howard HEIGHTON GBR 1.21.691
Men’s 65-69 500 metre Time Trial
Former Olympian for Great Britain and a rider who has won countless titles over the decades, Geoff Cooke was in a class of his own, winning the title as the only rider to go under 38 seconds. Stan Gregg of the USA was second almost half a second down with British rider David Rowe making it two Brits on the podium.
1 Geoff COOKE GBR 37.774
2 Stan GREGG USA 38.232
3 David ROWE GBR 38.469
4 G PASTOSTI ITA 38.837
5 Lance RAVENHILL GBR 39.002
6 Michael BRIAT FRA 40.077
7 Stefan MUNCH HANSEN DEN 40.134
8 Kevin McCOMB NZL 40.192
9 Sandy WALLACE GBR 40.366
10 Bill COTTON GBR 41.262
11 Robert WILSON RSA 41.472
12 Barry FERGUSON GBR 42.200
13 Roger LANGLOIS FRAÂ 42.983
14 George GRANT GBR 47.712
Men’s 45-49 Individual Pursuit
Gold/Silver Medal
Daniel Casper USA lead this race for the title from the start, opening up a gap of two seconds as they came into the final third of the race only to find Stephen McNally coming right back at him and in a nail biting finish, Casper won it by a few tenths of a second.
Bronze medal ride off
Japanese rider Kenji Yano had no trouble winning the Bronze medal against Michael Bevan RSA, crossing the line a clear three seconds ahead of the South African.
Men’s 50-54 Individual Pursuit
Defending champion Stephane Le Beau of Canada was simply far to classy for his rival Claus Christenson of Denmark, winning the 2,000 metre race off by two seconds.
Bronze medal
This was probably the most exciting pursuit match of the competition so far with Neville Ackerman of South Africa opening up a gap of a second or so on his rival, Nick Chadderton of Australia before the Aussie started to get a sniff of the finish and in motoring home as he did, Chadderton just managed to steal the medal from the clutches of Ackerman.
Women’s Points Race 35-44
Dana Walton of the USA won this title race after scoring well in the four sprints during the 10 kilometre race. Walton finished event with 14 points to the 8 of the Silver medallist Siobhan Mullan of Britain with a tie for the Bronze between Edwards and Hulskamp with Hulskamp getting the medal due to her better placing at the finish.
A field of 15 riders had started the race with sprints every 10 laps and except for one attack halfway through the race by Mindy Simmons, the field pretty much stayed together for the whole distance, only giving it full gas for the sprints.
In the first sprint, after a leadout from teammate Dana Walton, Kimberely Edwards of the USA scored the five points from Walton but in sprint two, it was Britain’s Siobhan Mullan who took the five points and put herself well into contention for the victory.
Simmons then attacked with 13 to go with Sandra Bletchley AUS chasing her. That injection of pace saw the field split only to come back together before Walton stamped her authority on the Gold medal challenge by taking the five points from Simmons and Mullen.
Those points for Walton saw her take the lead and in the final sprint for the line, she made sure of the Gold by winning that final sprint too from Cheryl Hulskamp, Siobhan Mullen and Kimberely Edwards. That finishing position saw Hulskamp win the Bronze from Edwards.
1 Dana WALTON USA
2 Siobhan MULLAN GBR
3 Cheryl HULSKAMP AUS
4 Kimberley EDWARDS USA
5 Sandra BLETCHLEY AUS
6 Elisa GIACHINO RSA
7 Mindy SIMMONS USA
8 Adriana del VALLE PERINO ARG
9 Alison HOLMES GBR
10 Caroline HARDING GBR
11 Kate ABBOTT RSA
12 Clara LOPEZ COL
13 Cheryl OWENS GBR
14 Aideen COLLARD IRL
15 Fiona WALKER GBR
Men’s 40-44 750 metre Time Trial
Racing in one of the final heats, Australian Gavin White was stunningly fast, going under 50 seconds for the three laps of the track and winning the race against the watch by over half a second from Andrew Weathers of the USA and Allen Vugrincic, also of the USA.
1 Gavin WHITE AUS 49.624
2 Andrew WEATHERS USA 50.202
3 Allen VUGRINCIC USAÂ 50.429
4 Neil POTTER GBR 50.584
5 Aderito DaCRUZ FRA 50.755
6 Eduardo LEGUIZAMONO ARG 51.080
7 Ahcen AGGAR FRA 51.508
8 Daniel RICKARD AUS 52.121
9 Leandro ARDANA ARG 52.247
10 John McCLELLAND GBR 52.289
11 Lou PASCUZZI AUS 52.352
12 Joseph SANTANIELLO NOR 52.414
13 Michael PAULIN USA 52.741
14 John Paul BE
NVENUTO FRA 53.079
15 Guy TUCKER USA 53.503
16 Frederick MARTIN FRA 53.708
17 Guy MOULSON GBR 53.942
18 Joseph WETZELLUSA 54.314
19 Kurt BROADHAG USA 54.583
20 Brendan WHEELAN IRE 54.941
21 Amaury HERNANDEZ PUR 55.044
22 Paul GITTINS GBR 55.104
23 Matt BEETON GBR 55.382
24 Graziano GUERRA ITA 56.182
25 Guiseppe RAVASIO ITA 56.246
26 David KIRBY GBR 56.939
27 Brian COONAN IRE 1.01.173
Women’s 45+ Points Race (40 laps)
The final race of the evening saw seven riders take to the track for this race with four sprints every ten laps. Whilst Janet Birkmyre was certainly favourite with no-one in the race remotely as quick as her, there were riders willing to challenge her for that title.
Orla Hendron of Ireland was one who was not afraid to attack and nor was British rider Jayne Payne but despite several injections of pace as they took turns to attack, Birkmyre never looked like being distanced and each time, was on the moves in the blink of an eye.
That made the race a walkover for Birkmyre who had twice the points total of the next rider even before the final sprint which she won as well to give her 20 points, 10 more than second placed rider Orla Hendron with Jayne Payne in third on 7 points.
1 Janet BIRKMYRE GBR 20
2 Orla HENDRON IRE 10
3 Jayne PAYNE GBR 7
4 Hamada MAKIKO JPNÂ 5
5 Liz CLAYON GBR 2
